Prison
Cat D
Key Concerns Identified
Positive Findings
Springhill
IMB Annual Report 2022 · Published 12 May 2023
HMP Springhill, an open Category D prison, faced challenges in 2022 despite maintaining low levels of self-harm, assaults, and use of force. The Board raised significant concerns regarding the poor quality of prisoner accommodation, persistent delays with external probation impacting Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL), and a lack of sustainable employment outcomes post-release. Staffing shortages affected healthcare and education, and property complaints, particularly during transfers, remained an unsatisfactory issue for men.
Positive Findings
The Board welcomes the increased number of men accessing Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL) and full-time work, and the support from the Employment Advisory Board to access sustainable job opportunities. Low levels of self-harm, assaults, and use of force were maintained, with drug finds significantly reduced. Accommodation for some men improved with new huts, and processes for handling discrimination incident reports were much better. Education success rates remained high, and the linking of GP prison and community records is expected to improve health understanding.
Key Concerns
Estate/Conditions
Repeated
The quality of accommodation for the majority of men in the older huts remains very poor, and the general decaying infrastructure of the whole site requires appropriate investment beyond short-term funding (5.1.2).
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
Delays with outside probation, including issues beyond London, continue to affect men's access to Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL) and progression (7.3.3).
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
Access to approved premises, particularly for restricted prisoners on resettlement overnight releases (RORs), has become especially difficult (7.3.5).
Regime/Time Out of Cell
Pay levels for men not in full-time work have fallen significantly behind price increases, and the Governor's ability to award meaningful pay rises is constrained (7.2.8).
Complaints/Property
Repeated
Property complaints, especially those involving transfers between establishments, remain a significant and unsatisfactory issue, not having reduced despite a new policy framework (5.8.1).
Resettlement/Release
Repeated
Post-release data indicates that current full-time work on ROTL is not consistently leading to sustainable employment on release, with fewer than 50% of men employed six weeks post-release for most months (7.2.9, 7.4.1).
Education/Purposeful Activity
Too few men employed on the prison site ("camp") are engaged in work that offers genuine resettlement opportunities or learning, and the percentage of men employed on-camp is too high for a resettlement prison (7.2.6).
Staffing
Insufficient staff training on responses to complaints (5.7.2) and on suicide and self-harm (SASH) prevention (4.2.2).
Healthcare
The Board has had limited access to data to assess the provision of healthcare due to staff sickness and vacancies, hindering oversight of performance and waiting lists (6.1.3).
Equality/Diversity
There is a risk that improvements to Equality and Diversity provision may not be sustained as funding for the dedicated manager role has not been repeated (5.4.4).
Board Commentary
Staffing
Staffing levels were impacted by vacancies and sickness, particularly in education, healthcare, kitchen, probation, and operational support grades. This led to limited data for assessing healthcare provision and delays in education course delivery. While staff generally understand accreditation standards, the benefits for men are less clear. The dedicated manager role for Diversity and Inclusion was not sustained with separate funding for the next year.
Healthcare
Healthcare provision faced significant challenges due to staff sickness and vacancies, limiting the Board's access to assessment data. While primary care was noted as good, some patients experienced long waits for secondary care (e.g., nine months for a biopsy). Mental health needs were identified early, with some positive anecdotal reports, but a general deterioration in mental health across the estate was noted. Social care referral delays improved from 14 to five weeks on average by year-end, though podiatry appointments still had waits over 12 weeks. Winter vaccine rollout was late compared to the community.
Regime & Daily Life
The prison returned to a more normal regime after COVID restrictions lifted in May, but many men still experience very poor living conditions in older huts due to decaying infrastructure. Purposeful activity on camp often lacks resettlement opportunities, and high on-camp employment rates are not ideal for a resettlement-focused prison. Pay for men not in full-time work remains low, failing to keep pace with rising canteen prices. Gym sessions were regularly cancelled due to inadequate heating in cold weather.
Applications to the IMB
Prisoners can apply to their IMB about any aspect of their treatment. This table shows application counts by category.
| Category | Current | Previous | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation, including laundry, clothing, ablutions | 0 | 0 | |
| Canteen, facility list, catalogue(s) | 0 | 0 | |
| Discipline, including adjudications, IEP, sanctions | 0 | 2 | |
| Equality | 0 | 0 | |
| Finance, including pay, private monies, spends | 1 | 1 | — |
| Food and kitchens | 0 | 0 | |
| Health, including physical, mental, social care | 0 | 1 | |
| Letters, visits, telephones, public protection restrictions | 0 | 2 | |
| Miscellaneous, including complaints system | 0 | 0 | |
| Property during transfer or in another establishment or location | 6 | 5 | |
| Property within this establishment | 0 | 0 | |
| Purposeful activity, including education, work, training, library, regime, time out of cell | 3 | 0 | |
| Sentence management, including home detention curfew, release on temporary licence, parole, release dates, recategorization | 1 | 3 | |
| Staff/prisoner concerns, including bullying | 2 | 1 | |
| Transfers | 0 | 0 |
Recommendations (11)
Other: 1
HMPPS: 4
Governor / Director: 6
4 repeated
Recommendation 1
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
The Board again emphasises the need for appropriate investment as opposed to short-term funding to patch the generally decaying infrastructure of the whole site.
Other
(minister)
Estate
Recommendation 2
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Address the issues with outside probation that are affecting some men’s access to ROTL, as the situation has not improved and delays in communication are now not just affecting London.
HMPPS
Resettlement
Recommendation 3
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Improve access to appropriate accommodation for some men on release, as access to approved premises, notably for restricted prisoners on resettlement overnight releases (RORs), has become especially difficult.
HMPPS
Resettlement
Recommendation 4
Review pay levels for men not in full-time work, which have fallen well behind price increases, and enable the Governor to award meaningful pay rises.
HMPPS
Regime
Recommendation 5
Repeated
Prev. unaddressed
Ensure property complaints, especially those involving transfers, are effectively reduced as they do not appear to have diminished as a result of the new policy framework.
HMPPS
Complaints
Recommendation 6
Continue ongoing work with the EAB to connect men on ROTL with jobs that are sustainable on release.
Governor / Director
Resettlement
Recommendation 7
Provide more full-time work on camp connected to post release job opportunities as well as improving learning opportunities for those on camp.
Governor / Director
Education
Recommendation 8
Leverage the link with HMP Winchester to improve property transfers and reduce complaints, and benefit from improved communication between the two prisons’ offender management units (OMUs) and healthcare departments.
Governor / Director
Complaints
Recommendation 9
Implement further staff training on complaints responses and suicide and self-harm (SASH).
Governor / Director
Staffing
Recommendation 10
Ensure the delivery of health champions and the wellbeing hub, as well as improved access to healthcare data.
Governor / Director
Healthcare
Recommendation 11
Sustain improvements to D&I.
Governor / Director
Equality